Anchoring of nematic liquid crystals on a thin polymeric film

We analyze the influence of a thin polymer layer with lateral side groups on the anchoring of a nematic liquid crystal. We show that the effective anisotropic part of the anchoring energy depends on the coupling of the nematic with the polymer side groups, as well as on the coupling of the polymer side groups with the surface. The relaxation time for the nematic orientation induced by an external field is evaluated by considering the surface dissipation connected to the relative motion of the nematic director with respect to the polymer side groups.